Behavioral Issues of Secondary Students

Francisco M Pelagio
Teacher III, Muñoz National High School-Annex

Disciplining students is considered one of our toughest parts of our job as teacher. We come across numerous behavioral problems such as bullying, fighting, teasing, stealing, disobedience, and skipping classes. We have to admit that we are often not equipped to deal with it and sometimes experienced frustration of trying to manage these behavioral issues.We have even come to the point of sending the students to the guidance office, reprimand, suspend or giving them community service but the problem still continues. It really brings to much stress on our part every day. Especially when we have tried everything but nothing seems to work.

It is sad reality that many of our students possess behavioral issues. These behavioral problems distracts other students from learning. The learning process for other students is affected when one or more misbehave in the classroom. It requires large amount of time and attention to deal with it and it takes away from the valuable time needed to teach our students. It is our job to manage the classroom in a manner that reinforce learning. We have to think on what should be done to manage these behavioral issues.We have to think of some ways to solve this existing problem. Since we are committed to helping all our students succeed, including these behavioral issue, let us explore different techniques or strategies to employ to deal with it.We have to know the students better to find out the reason why they are behaving like that. We have to determine the real cause of their unruly behavior. We need to identify the problem, figure out how to change the behavior. We need to get to know our students and work hard to find what is best for them.

Managing behavioral issues of our student is not that easy. Sometimes we fail to control our emotions when we deal with it .We even come to the point of bursting our temper as we try to solve the issue. Let us try not to get angry or frustrated by troublesome behavior. Talk to the students nicely. Talk to them privately. Be calm. Scolding them always will not solve the problem. Nagging them always will just worsen the issue. Never embarrass, scold and humiliate them in front of their classmate.  Public reprimand often triggers  the problem. Effective teachers  discipline with encouragement  and kind words  much more than rebukes or reprimand. Try to understand where the behavior comes from. Usually, students engaging in problem behavior is struggling with something.  Some of our students have family problem. Many of our unruly students usually have a big problem in their family and seeking attention is their outlet. They become unruly because they lack attention at home and at school.

Perhaps the best thing to do is to put our self on their shoes. Befriend the students. They are just looking for someone who will sympathize them. Help develop sympathy through understanding. Be caring and emphatic to our students. The greatest thing a teacher can do is to care and to understand. Showing students that we care about them will help ease their behavioral issue. Have some time to visit them at home to know the real score about their behavior.Work with parents to show concern for their children. We may ask them why their children misbehave in class. We may ask them to work hand in hand with us in managing the behavior issues of our students. Because if school and community work together solving the behavioral issues of our students will be of great help.